Chinese doctor and AIDS activist Gao Yaojie died at age 95 in New York on Sunday. Photo: IC Photo

Gao holds up a book she wrote in Beijing in 2007. Gao began to investigate AIDS cases in Henan province in 1996. She came across an AIDS patient who was infected by the virus through blood transfusions. Photo: VCG

Gao hands out AIDS prevention pamphlets printed at her own expense on the street in Zhengzhou on Dec. 1, 2002. Photo: VCG

Gao was honored with the Touching China award announced by China Central Television in 2003 for investigating AIDS patients who were infected through blood transfusions. It also acknowledged her efforts for appealing to the public to care for AIDS orphans. Photo: VCG

The table next to Gao is piled high with AIDS prevention pamphlets. In the autumn of 1996, she started to edit and print such materials, distributing them at bus stations in Zhengzhou. Photo: VCG

Gao gestures with her glasses during a conversation in 2005. Photo: VCG

Gao talks with students in 2005. Photo: IC Photo

Gao speaks at a press conference for a book she published in 2006. She worked tirelessly to publicize knowledge about AIDS prevention, handing out her books for free to institutions and individuals. Photo: IC Photo

Gao sits at the bedside of her ailing husband in a hospital ward in April 2006. After her husband, who was always supportive of her advocacy work, passed away, Gao moved to New York to become a visiting scholar at Columbia University. She remained there the rest of her life. Photo: IC Photo

Gao arrives at the check-in counter at the airport in Beijing as she prepared to leave for the U.S. on Feb. 26. Photo: VCG